Folding staging bracket



April 15, 1930. 'A. P. HENDERSON 1,755,116

FOLDING STAGING BRACKET Filed April 7, 1928 24 I workers- Patented Apr. 15, 1930 g UNITED- STATE ALONZO r. i-mnnnnsomor HANOVER, MAssnonUsn r'rs f-FOLDING STAGING nnAoxEr I Application filed April '7,

-The invention has relation to the supporting brackets of builders staging such as is applied. to the exterior of buildings, usually those in the course of. construction, to support Thebrackets in question are those which serve, when :in use, to sustain horizontal platforms of planks.

1 ,The present invention provides a folding staging bracket of novel and improved con structional characterof-the type comprising a plurality ofmembers which are connected 'pivotally to one another and for use are adapted to be arranged in the form of atriangle with two sides thereof rigid and the -1 third jointed intermediateits length. The

invention consists further in a folding brack- 1 et having combined with the'fundamental elements just outlined a hand-rail support as set forth hereinafter;

' "An illustrative embodiment of -the.inven-.

tion is shown in the accompanying drawings, in" WhlCll latter, 1

Fig. 1 shows the said embodiment in side 7 elevation, appliedto a building :wall, the latter being in vertical section, and a platform of. planks being, shown supported. by the bracket.. f 3 Fig. 2 shows in plan, on a smaller scale than in the. case of Fig. 1, two brackets, a-platform of boards resting thereon, and a buildingwall inhorizontal section. Fig. 3 is a view in section on line 3,3, of Fig. 1, the scale being the same as in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an elevation, on different scale,

of a bracket'in foldedcondition.

The characteristic elements of the bracket, proper, comprise, a platform-supporting member 1, a brace-member .14 which assists in supporting inj-a horizontal position the said member 1 and the platform resting thereon, and a;jointed1strut :composed of links 17, 19, which is combined'with the inner ends of the said-members 1 and 14s In making use of the bracket, the member 1, supporting the planking 2. forming the platform upon which the usersof the staging may walk about, extends horizontally outward from the :wallto which the bracket is applied. In making application of the brackst to the wall, as 3,;Fig. 1, the member 1 is 1928. Serial No. 258,184.

attached'jto the said wall means of a fas-' tening bolt 4 whichis passed through ahole formed lnthe wall and through a hole in a cleat 6 extending across two of thestuds or uprights 7, 7, behind the wal'l,,the innere'nd of g the bolt having a hand-nutfi applied thereto b at the inner sideof the cleat. The upturned outer extremity of bolt 4 is engaged with member 1 by entering it intoone of, a plurality of holes 12, 12, in the horizontal; flange of the said member 1, accidental disengagement of the bolt from member 1' being 'provided against by means of a cotter-pin 13 occupying a hole throughthe said extremity: above the said flange. Z 6 In the relations in which the parts are shown in Fig.1, the obliquely-disposed bracemember 14. serves, through engagement of its 7 upper end with platform-sustaining member I m.

1 at a distanceoutward from wall 3, and through contact of its lower end with the-said wall, to support the outstanding portion of; member 1, together with the loadcarried byv memberl. f Y

The said brace-member lt'is in pivotal or hinge'connectionewith member 1 at a suitable place in the length of member 1, in this in stance about two-thirds of its length away from the wall-engaging end. Such hinge- ,connection is established by means of a pivot '3 .115, passing through these members at their meeting-point. 1 To. the lowerend of bracemember 14 is pivotally attached by means of a pivot 16 the lower end of a flat metal link 17 which is combined at its upper end by a pivot 18 with the lowerend of "a similar'but shorter link-member 19 extending downward from a pivotal connection at 20 with the member 1, the pivots 16 and 20 being located as close as practicable to the wall-engaging shoes 5 and 11 of the members 14. and 1. The links 17 19,c0-nstitute the jointed strut to 5 which reference has been made, such strut i being in effecta toggle. VVhenthe two links V are straightened out in line witheach other as in Fig. 1, so that pivot18isin line with pivots 16 and 20, orbetter still when pivot 18 is caused to occupy a position a little to'the left ofsuch line,'the"sf 'aid jointed strut serves V to. maintain. the brace-member, 14 in, Ifixed 10 relations with respect to platform-sustaining member 1, while the parts are as in Fig. 1, thereby ensuring performance of the bracing function and safeguarding against collapse of the bracket.

'The device as thus far described is of a known general character. It constitutes a complete, safe, and very strong bracket. The pivotal or hinge connections, and the relations of the members 1, 14, 17, and 19, enable the bracket to be folded up as in Fig. 4, when detached from wall 3, so that all the members lie parallel and nested together and occupy a very small space. In eflectingthe folding, it is necessary merelyto swing links 17 19, to the right in Fig. ,1 so asto carry pivot 18 in that direction and double-up the said links 7 with eachother, which will cause brace-member 14 to approach member 1, thereby nesting members 1,14,17, and 19 with relation to one another as in Fig. 4.

p The platform-supporting member 1 and braceniember 14 preferably are made of angle-iron or steel. The piece of angle-metal constituting the said platform-supporting member is so related to the associated members of the bracket that in the position occupied by the bracket when in use the top of the said platform-supporting member 1 is constituted by a horizontally-disposed flange, while the other flange extends downward therefrom so as to constitute a vertical side for the member 1. The end of member 1 which is contiguous tothe outer surface of wall 3 is provided with a shoe 11 to aflord a broad bearing-surface against the said surface of the wall, a hole being cut in the said shoe to permit the stem of the fastening bolt 4 to extend through the shoe. This shoe, in

the illustrated instance, is formed by cutting away the metal of one flange of the angle-iron for a short distance and bending the end-portion of the uncut flange at right angles.

The brace-member 14 likewise is constituted of a length of angle metal, with one flange thereof disposed vertically, and the other horizontally. The vertical flange of the said brace-member makes contact with the vertical flange of the platform-supporting member 1 and with one side of the lower link 17. At the lower end of the brace-member 14 the terminal portion of the vertical flange of the angle piece constituting such member is bent at right angles to constitute a broad wall engaging shoe 5 similar to the shoe 11 of the member 1.

In practice, the planking 2 will be supported by means of two or more brackets, as in Fig. 2, spaced conveniently apart. Preferably provision is made for preventing the planking from slipping off the outer end of the bracket or brackets. In the present instance, for this purpose, an upstanding toe 9 isprovided at the outer extremity of mem-' ber 1, con'veniently formed by cutting off the and ata suitable height outermost end of the vertical flange of its angle iron and turning up the projecting extremity of the horizontal flange. Also, holes 10, 10, Fig. 2, may be provided in the horizontal flange of member 1 to receive bolts or spikes for holding the planking from endwise movement. 7

For safety,it is advisable to provideva handrail 21 at the side of the staging more remote from the wall to which the staging is attached, above the planking. At 22, Figs. 1 and 2, is a toe-board of 6 inches or'so in' width vertically, applied along the outer edge of thestaging, adapted to prevent a worker from slipping under the handrail and fallingg and also to prevent tools from rolling off.

. The safety appliances just mentioned are attached to posts, one of which is shown at 26,1 ig. 1. In accordance with one part of the invention, a carrier-post 23, constituted of angle iron, is mounted by a pivot 27,10- cated at an intermediate point in the height of the carrier-post, upon the vertical flange of member 1 at the outer end of the member 1. A linlnmember 24 has one end thereof engaged pivotally at 28 with the member 23 at. a point below member 1 and pivot 27, and the other end engaged with the pivot 18 which formsthe joint between the link-members l7 and 19, the arrangement being-such as to form a parallelogram defined by the member 1, the length'of member 2.3:between its pivotal connection at 27 with member 1 and its pivotal connection at'28 with member 24, the member 24, and the link-member 19. This'forms a linkage whereby opening of the bracket into triangular form for application to vertical wall bringsgthe members 23, 26, into vertical position, and places hand-rail 21 and toeboard 22 inworking positions. The handrail is held very rigidly by this arrangement, as any inward pull, toward thewall, on the hand-rail tends merely to lift the lower end of member 14 vertically upward along the wall, with a consequent slight lifting of the outer side of the whole staging; while an outward push on the hand-rail tends to force the inward end of member 24 more firmly against the unyielding surface of the wall wlth no result except that a very great force will likewise cause a slight lifting of the outward side of the staging.

When the bracket is folded, after detachment of the hand-rail and toe-board, the

. 10. combined to form a foldable triangle, a handnected byan additional member to the joint- I extend obliquely downward to contact with said wall two members pivoted to each other and to the wall-engaging ends of thefirst two members to lie parallel to then/all, and all rail-supporting member pivotally combined with'thefirst-mentioned member and a mema ber connecting the said hand-rail supporting member to the pivot joining the two wallparalleling members, I foldable into substantially'parallel relation to each other without disconnection/of joints when detached from the wall. ALONZO P. HENDERSON.

all the members being 

